James Clappison

The Prime Minister has said that the guarantees to the Irish people will be given effect in protocols but these, apparently, are to be added to a completely different treaty as and when further countries accede to the European Union at some uncertain time in the future. In the meantime, do the guarantees have legal effect and if so, how?

— from debate entitled “European Council”

The three speeches/headings immediately before

  1. 1 earlier: Gordon Brown

    I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for raising these issues. It is fair to say that we have gone further than other countries in the agreements that we have signed with the major banks in our country. The major banks have agreed to £70 billion of extra lending over the next year from 1 March and another £70 billion in the year after that. That additional money will become available to small businesses as well as large businesses and mortgage holders in this country. We have taken action not only to recapitalise the banks, but to make sure that the banks are in a position to lend to business and have agreed to do so. That is the difference between what was happening a few months ago and what is happening now.

    On jobs, I repeat that the best estimate is that without the action that we have taken, 500,000 more jobs would have been lost. Any unemployment is to be regretted but surely it is our responsibility in a time of recession to do our best by helping unemployed people to get back to work. That demands the expenditure of money and that is the choice between ourselves and the Opposition; we are prepared to invest the money to help people back to work.

  2. 2 earlier: Gavin Strang

    On jobs and the leadership that the Prime Minister has provided, not least at the G20 summit, to help us get through this international recession, are there now grounds for cautious optimism that the Government's measures have in fact saved the British banking system? Is it not worth noting in passing that as far as lending for investment is concerned, a number of British companies are having successful rights issues for this purpose?

  3. 3 earlier: Gordon Brown

    No, Mr. Speaker. Only in two instances is the mediation binding and these two instances are in the interests of Britain. The first is if there is a dispute between home and host country. I can think of many instances where the possibility of such mediation would be in the interests of our country. The second is in the application of the rules. If we have common rules—we want common rules not just in Europe, but around the world—it makes sense to show that these rules are being observed.

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